This was bound to happen in the wake of PartyGaming's Interim Results and subsequent announcement to the City. The confidence in Online Gambling Operations, which was sky high running up to and during the Party IPO has been severly rocked. It will right itself though and now could be a very good time to pick up some shares.

If this survey is representitive, the market may already be pretty full as far as UK punters go. 93% exposure doesn't leave much room for growth.
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Bet crazy Brits spend 1.5 billion a year on-line
1 October 2005

Bet crazy Brits are splashing out a staggering 1.5 billion-a-year on on-line gambling, a new survey has revealed.

Football, lottery, horseracing, poker and casino sites are the countrys big favourites according to a poll for Virgin Money - and Londoners have emerged as the biggest spenders.

Most Brits admit to staking between 10 and 20-a-week having a flutter while 40 per cent of Scots spend 50.

But Londoners are the nations biggest gamblers with one in ten spending between 300 and 500-a-week.

Virgin Money polled more than 2,000 people to discover the scale of the nations online betting fascination and an incredible 93 per cent admitted they have had a crack.

More new punters are chasing the dream all the time with nearly half the people polled admitting they have started gambling online in the past six months.

Football sites are tops with men, 40 per cent visiting them daily and the same number betting once a week.

Lottery and casino games are mens other big favourites.

But women provided the biggest shock. Their main gambling interest is the lottery, but second on their must-bet list is horseracing, once regarded as a mainly male fascination.

Punters in the Midlands and East Anglia are the most frequent online betters with nearly one in three admitting to having a flutter more than once a day.

People in the South West spend most time playing poker, backing horses or trying other sites on the web one in 20 confessing to spending up to five hours online a day.

The vast majority of online punters, nearly 80 per cent, will spend a minimum of one hour a week betting on line but that equates to more than a working week each year gambling on the web.

Most of the gambling population use their own computers at home to enjoy their new hobby and they pay for their fun with credit and debit cards.

But up to 10 per cent nationally admit to using computers at work, that figure rising to 18 per cent in London and the North East.

And five per cent nationally confess to buying a PC or laptop specifically so they can bet.

The seductive power of gambling has resulted in 10 per cent of the online betting community insisting that having a flutter online is now their main pastimes. But that figure rises to one in five of online gamblers in Scotland and East Anglia.

A spokesman for Virgin Money said: "Theres no doubt online gambling and betting has become incredibly popular across the country and these figures prove it.

"The internet as with so many other areas of life - has simply made something people already enjoy even easier to access and new sites are springing up all the time.

"Gambling can be both fun and rewarding but punters should only spend what they can afford to lose."

The big question is, what does this 1.5 billion figure mean? "Spending" is a very vague word in the context of gambling. 1.5 billion seems too small for the total amount wagered, too big for the total amount lost.

You must register/login in order to see the link.Down 7.05 (7.47%)You must register/login in order to see the link.Down 40.00 (9.41%)You must register/login in order to see the link.Down 3.75 (4.75%)You must register/login in order to see the link.Down 19.45 (7.11%)

And here's a 6 month chart for Cryptologic - You must register/login in order to see the link.

Soooo, when is a good time to start buying?? Mary? What's your crystal ball say?

A number of analysts have been espousing the view that although this is a sector that has proved to be very sensitive to comment and therefore volatile, in most cases companies coming to the fore are delivering solid results and have sound and well funded business plans going forward.

Here's an example of this on one of the companies on Bryan's list above:

NEW POKER ROOM SOON FROM GAMING VC

German-oriented company has big plans for Europe

The internet casino and magazine group Gaming VC plans to commercially launch its new online poker operation in the near future following a soft launch in August and Beta testing through the European holidays.

Powered by Boss Media and running a little behind the scheduled launch the poker room will add to Gaming VC's already healthy Casino Club.com revenue streams from a mainly German market, although the company has ambitious plans for wider European activity, including Spain, Italy and Russia.

The company was listed on the London AIM market in December 2004, raising GBP 81 million with which it bought Casinos International NV and its dominant position in the German market, building the business ever since. It does not accept U.S. player action.

The magazines, Roulette and Casino Club have proved to be effective marketing aids boasting a circulation of 90 000 with the June issues. The companys marketing numbers are promising, with 8115 new player signups and a conversion rate of 62 percent. Client acquisition average cost is around a creditable Euro 250.

CEO Steve Barlow has the Spanish market firmly in his sights as the next target for expansion. Research has shown that there are 4.7 million potential new players in the region, 40 percent of them energetic early adapters.

Gaming VC has said that it plans to offer online poker in various European countries and will localise its poker offerings to cater to players culture, language and currency, based on their region.

The launch of poker will enable Gaming VC to further extend its gaming product offerings within Europe," Barlow said. "By working with Boss Media to launch a Poker offering, we will attract an even broader range of customers and deliver best-of-breed gaming in a regulatory compliant manner.

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